A text from Marie Hartley, 34, informed her family she had escaped the security alert which had closed the Piccadilly Tube line on the morning of 7 July. Taking an alternative route, the mother-of-two from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, boarded a Number 30 bus and sat on the top deck, with her colleague Camille Scott. The two of them worked together at greeting card firm Hambledon Studios, in Altham, Lancs, where Ms Hartley was studio manager. They were on their way to an exhibition in Islington to recruit new artists, but the blast which ripped through the bus when it was in Tavistock Square claimed Ms Hartley's life. Ms Scott, from Preston, was blown out of the bus but escaped with facial injuries. As the full extent of the destruction to engulf London emerged, Ms Hartley's family assumed from her text message that she was safe. But when she failed to make contact by the evening, they began to fear the worst. Her husband David paid tribute to her skills as a mother to their boys, aged seven and one. He told the Manchester Evening News: "She did very well at Hambledon Studios, where she had worked for 19 years. "But she was so family-orientated and everything she did, she did for the kids. She was full of life, she loved dancing and going out for meals or to the pictures. She lived life to the full." Ms Hartley grew up in Accrington and went to Moorhead High School. She was a talented artist who worked her way up through the ranks at Hambledon Studios, where she managed 20 staff. Ms Hartley enjoyed music, art and reading and attended St Mary's RC Church, where her funeral was held. Her mother Barbara Targett, 57, told the paper: "When Marie walked into a room the whole place lit up, it was impossible to miss her presence." David Dean, Hambledon Studios' managing director, said Marie's colleagues were so distressed that counsellors had been brought in. He said: "She was incredibly talented and inspired everyone who worked for her. Everyone here wishes to extend to Marie's family their feeling of sorrow. We share in their loss."
Marie also leaves a brother Ian, 31, who is a policeman. Courtesy BBC